


The Favorite

by LysCat



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Conversation, F/M, Plans to leave, Slight teasing, an understanding, established Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:29:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28445433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LysCat/pseuds/LysCat
Summary: Summary: Coulson and Sousa have a conversation. This is set after the events of the final showdown, but before the year-long time jump. Established Daisy/Sousa.
Relationships: Phil Coulson & Daniel Sousa, Phil Coulson & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Comments: 8
Kudos: 60





	The Favorite

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters familiar to Marvel

  
“Okay, so…I’ll just run into town then…” Daisy Johnson said when Coulson finished explaining that he would be with them for the rest of the week at the Lighthouse. “I’ll grab stuff for dinner the next couple nights.”

  
Phil Coulson offered her a smile. “Sounds good.”

“Want some company?” Daniel Sousa offered. 

She smiled at him. “No, I’ll be okay,” she denied as she reached for her purse before turning back towards the pair. “Play nice, you two,” she teased before placing a kiss on Sousa’s cheek and walking away.

Waiting until he was sure they were alone, Coulson began speaking. “I’m glad we have a private moment. I wanted to speak to you.”

Speak to him? Daniel Sousa looked to Agent Coulson. The other man wore a grave expression on his face, and he found himself hesitating momentarily. He was instantly brought back to his conversation with Director Mackenzie on the quin jet before their final showdown with Malick and the Chronicoms and the not-so-subtle threat that the other man had given him. 

“When we were in 1955, the idea of letting you die…it didn’t sit well with Daisy.” He could still recall her pleased reaction when Mack told them they were going to save Sousa.

“But the rest of you were okay with it?” Daniel immediately countered. “Good to know.”

Though the words could be construed as biting, the small smirk on the other man’s mouth told him that there was no offense in his words. Coulson shook his head. “It didn’t sit well with any of us,” he clarified. “But at the time, we were working under the assumption that we were still in our original timeline and any change no matter how small and seemingly insignificant could end up changing what was supposed to be our present,” he went on to explain, recalling how happy she appeared to be when Mack told them he had a plan to save Agent Sousa.

“Self-preservation,” Daniel remarked then. “I get it.” He could hardly blame them for feeling such. 

Coulson nodded. “Daisy, as preferential as I am with her, has always differed from the rest of the team. Computer specialists, scientists, field ops…” he began, listing off the way that most SHIELD agents started their careers by whichever academy their suit fell in. “Each one may be different according to their abilities, but they are very much the same in the way that they’re molded. They’re taught not to question things, you receive an order, you follow through with it.”

“Of course,” Daniel agreed easily. That is how it had always been.

He couldn’t help but silently muse over Sousa’s words. While Daniel had relaxed somewhat since joining them, he was still very formal when it came to work. He was very by the book, and it was a stark difference to Daisy’s more relaxed persona. “After six years, she still doesn’t have that one down pat,” Coulson admitted shaking his head, all the while a small smile played around his mouth.  
There was no use in asking who ‘she’ was. Daisy. He knew it, he’d seen her reaction to various events and orders since his relatively short time with the team. 

“She still tends to think with her heart, not with her head. Our mission was to stop the Chronicoms. So, when they decided to kill Fred Malick-”

“You needed to save him,” Daniel interrupted him. 

“Yes. But Daisy was against it from the start. She wanted nothing more than to put him down then and there.”

For a moment, Daniel mused over what might have happened if Malick had been killed before he could get fully ingrained in Hydra. He may not have been killed that night at the Roosevelt. There wouldn’t have been any Chronicoms, no near miss at Area 51. But then what? He’d meant what he said to Coulson that day on the train. Being an agent filled the days, but it didn’t fill his nights. After his relationship with Peggy fizzled out, he’d gone on a few first dates, but nothing ever really progressed beyond that. No. If he had a choice between the mundane life he’d been living and the adventure he’d since been pulled into after meeting the fake CIA agent in his office that afternoon, he’d choose the latter every time. “She never said anything,” he mused, recalling his conversation with her prior to his escape from Z1 that first night. She’d been relatively quiet as he’d attempted to come to terms with the acknowledgement of Hydra’s presence within SHIELD.

“No, I don’t suppose she would have,” Coulson agreed then. By that time, they already had years to come to terms with Hydra and all it entailed.

There’d been a few times during those first few days when she’d tried to reach out to him when he was feeling overwhelmed by the idea of traveling further away from 1955. She would always apologize to him and explain why they had to follow the Chronicoms. She’d never once complained about it, not like he’d done until Deke finally broke through his haze of resentment when they jumped to 1976. “I guess not.”

“And as outgoing as she is, she’s cautious about who she truly lets into her inner sphere.”

Why was he telling him all of this? He already knew what kind of person Daisy was. “I think I know the kind of person she is,” he admitted then. However, he realized it was the incorrect thing to say when Coulson tilted his head and appeared to be observing him closely. He’d heard Daisy playfully refer to Coulson as ‘dad’ more than once since joining the group. And it was with that understanding that he forced himself not to fidget under the other man’s perusal. 

“I suppose you do,” Coulson allowed after a pregnant pause. 

Not the response he was expecting… “What does that mean?”

“I’ve watched the two of you interact with each other,” Coulson replied. He thought back to their escape from the holding cell back at Area 51 and remembering the way that Daisy hesitated as they ran off, telling him that they were the good guys. She wouldn’t have done it for just anyone. “You two have gravitated towards one another from the beginning.” He thought back to Agent Sousa volunteering to join Daisy when they were in 1976. It ended up being a decision that may have saved Daisy’s life. He shook the darker thoughts that threatened to break out and continued on. “I witnessed the pair of you while we were time-looping and unlike Daisy, I remember all of the ones I was present through.”

If that were the case, Coulson may have known how his feelings for the woman had changed over the course of their time traveling adventure… Is that what this was? He was getting another…what had Daisy called it? A ‘shovel talk?’ “Why are you telling me this?” 

“I’ve decided to leave,” Coulson confessed. “I’ve taken exactly one break since SHIELD fell, and that was because I was dying. Other than that, I’ve never taken time for myself through the years. Being in charge during such an unsure time, I never felt as if I could just pack up and walk away for a week or two.” Of course, he’d be taking care of things for Mack along the way, but it wouldn’t be a stationary gig. 

“But you feel like you can now,” Daniel assumed for him. 

Coulson nodded. “Yes. For the first time in several years, I feel as if we’re all in a place where I can put myself first,” he explained. “Daisy considers May, Fitzsimmons and me her family. And through the years, that small circle grew to include Mack and Yo-Yo…” He tilted his head, watching the other man for a reaction. “And I have a feeling that soon, it will come to encapsulate you and Kora.” It was just a matter of when that would happen. “When Fitzsimmons returned to England, I don’t think she felt it as much because she still had everyone else to lean on but May has been spending more time at the Academy and I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time before she caves into Mack and takes a permanent position there.” 

Daniel found himself nodding. “Daisy has already brought that up in conversation,” the other man murmured. 

“And with Mack, Yo-Yo and Piper permanently away from the Lighthouse now-”

“And now you’re leaving…” Daniel finished. 

Coulson nodded slowly. “It won’t be the first time that we’ve been separated from one another, but with the understanding that the group won’t be together ever again as a whole, I suspect this is going to hit her hard.” Daisy had always held the team close to her heart, much more so than those that had a traditional upbringing. “Without speculating on the exact status of your relationship with her, I know that you care for her.”

Daniel steadfastly held Coulson’s gaze. “I do,” he admitted evenly.

Coulson nodded once in acknowledgement. “And I suppose my reason for telling you all of this is because she’s going to need you, probably a lot more than even she realizes,” he cautioned the younger man, watching as he processed the words. 

“I’ll be ready,” Daniel acknowledged. It wasn’t the first time that he and Daisy had been left alone. While Agent May had been spending time at the academy, Coulson had been traveling between the Lighthouse and the helicarrier that Mack was currently stationed on, which left the pair of them alone for long periods of time. For Daisy, it had been a choice to stay behind, but for him, it had been an order from the director. As anxious as Mack had been to put him to use, he was decades behind on current events and needed to catch up. 

“I have no doubt about that,” Coulson replied then. “How long until you guys leave?”

“We have a few months yet,” Daniel sighed. When Mack mentioned the notion of returning to space, Daisy jumped at the opportunity and he’d signed on as well. “While Zephyr 3 is being modified, we’ve been trying to put together a team.”

“And how’s that going for you?”

The man out time shrugged. “It’s going…not as fast as Daisy would like, but we’re getting there. She’s requested that Kora join us, if she’s interested in joining our journey.”

Coulson nodded. “Yeah, Mack asked me for my thoughts on it.”

“And?” Daniel asked, wanting to know how the other man felt. 

“I know we didn’t meet Kora under the best of circumstances. However, I do believe that Malick was manipulating her and that she wouldn’t have done half of what she did if she wasn’t being molded by his hand.”

“How can you know for sure?” Daniel asked then. He would hate it if Daisy stuck her neck out for her sister, only for it to backfire. 

Coulson shook his head in negative. “I can’t. But I took a chance on Daisy and look how that turned out.” There was no denying the place she’d made for herself in SHIELD. “She was very raw those first few months with the team. You wouldn’t know it to look at her now, but she used to hesitate when she was training with a gun.”

“Really?”

“She used to stop short from pulling the trigger and instead would say ‘bang.’”

Upon hearing that, Daniel felt a small smile play around his mouth. 

Coulson allowed his own smile for a moment before continuing on. “I gave Daisy a chance and now she’s paying it forward. I can’t predict the future, but I do know that Kora’s regard for Daisy is real and because of that, she would never intentionally hurt her.” 

“It’s the unintentional hurt that I’m worried about,” Daniel clarified. 

“Kora’s been through a lot, but she’s a survivor. They both are,” he reminded Daniel in a gentle voice. “It will take a gentle, guiding hand; but under the right tutelage I think she’ll make a good agent.”   
The man out of time considered the words and nodded after a long moment. Coulson usually had a good read of people, who was he to disagree? “I have to admit that when you said you wanted to talk, I thought you were going to give me the shovel talk.”

“What? The one from Mack wasn’t enough?” Coulson asked with a smile on his face.

“He told you about that, huh?”

Coulson nodded. “Yup, he told me all about it. As amusing as it was to hear, Daisy can take care of herself.”

“That she can.”

“Plus, of all the men she’s brought home, you are by far my favorite.” He watched as Daniel almost seemed to preen under the compliment. 

All the men? Just how many were they talking about? Daisy had only really spoken of Lincoln, and even then, it was few and far between. “Uh, thanks?” He said, making a mental note to ask Daisy about it…one day. 

The End


End file.
